Yoghurt bacteria commonly are L. acidophilus.
Oh, good grief.
Yogurt bacteria are and always have been L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus, although some companies do also add L. Acidophilus. You can also find additional strains. All yogurts, however, are made from L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus.
I guarantee that the rest of Blake’s pronouncements are on exactly this plane of accuracy.
To prove this, I’m happy to refer you to the other thread that he mentioned, in which I gave a libraryful of cites of research from the medical journals, some of which I’ve even read!
The best ones for a basic knowledge of lactose intolerance are: J. Dairy Sci. 84:319–331 “Invited Review: The Scientific Basis of Lactobacillus acidophilus: NCFM Functionality as a Probiotic” M. E. Sanders* and T. R. Klaenhammer and “Metabolism of Lactose in the Human Body,” H. Arola & A. Tamm, Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 1994;29(suppl 202):21-5, which unfortunately is not given in full text online that I can find. That article and the other five articles in that particular Supplement volume are the best mini-review of the body of knowledge comprising LI.
Hey, you can also click on the cites given in post #39 to see how the non-medical community talks about the subject. And then see for yourself if they qualify as “some site that doesn’t make money form selling probiotics.” All of them do, obviously. To not know that and repeat it four times means that either you didn’t read them or you’re lying through your teeth.
I stand by my statements of the way LI metabolism works in the body. Please note that Blake never, in any of his thousands of words in these threads, ever cites a medical report for any of his flat statements that I’m wrong.
Here’s my recommendations for the process of understanding a subject:
First, read the literature on the subject.
Second, read lots more of the literature, so that you have a good context in which to evaluate what you’ve read.
Third, cite from literature you actually bothered to read.
Fourth, don’t attack anything you obviously haven’t read.
I’m perfectly content leaving my plain words and cites alone for the rest of you Dopers to evaluate for yourselves. You should do exactly the same for Blake’s posts and decide their worth as well. I know I have. That’s why I said I was done in the other thread and never looked back until I needed to grab the quotes for this post.
Happy reading, everyone. 
This seems like as good a thread as any to ask this question: If probiotics don’t help, how about lactase tablets (such as Lactaid)? Do those provide an adequate solution for the lactose intolerant?
They seem to work fine for the vast majority of people, if they are taken correctly.
A page on lactase. A non-commercial one. 
Probiotics help with flatulance. I know in my direct personal case, I can tell you I had kill farts after eating anything Dairy. After I learned about probiotics, I can now eat reasonable amounts of cheese, yogurt and ice cream without “smelling up the joint”. I still won’t do something silly like drink a large glass of milk, mind you.
I leave you Exapno Mapcase’s excellent cites.
Err yes, and how does any of that contradict that yoghurt bacteria are commonly L. acidophilus? Nowhere did I say they were exclusively L. acidophilus or always L. acidophilus.
I guarantee that too. Perfectly accurate and indisputable.
But not one of them says that probiotics are useful for treating LI. Not one.
The best ones for a basic knowledge of lactose intolerance are:
[quote]
Hey, you can also click on the cites given in post #39 to see how the non-medical community talks about the subject.[.qupte]
The ‘non-medical’ being folks who make money selling the stuff.
Well if you stand byt them then provide a non-commerical reference to support them. I have no trouble finding highly-regarded microbiology texts and journal articles that say precisely what I have been saying.
I’m calling you out. Give us refernces for, or even just name, a bacterium that can ferment lactase without digesting it or vice versa.
Well now your are either lying or hallucinating.
I just quoted from two peer-reviewed medical journals and one highly respected college level microbiology text that flatout contradict you!
What more do you want? They say outright that probiotics don’t work and that there are normally billions of bacteria in every square centimetre of the small intestine.
What do you mean I never provide such refernces?
I’ll point out that most of EM’s (ahem) “references” don’t even, mention the word lactose, while those that do mention it say that it was studied but you never give us the results saying that it worked.
But in true Homer Simpson fashion he insists that the evidence is “somewhere towards the back” of that mess of references. But he can’t quote it or even tell us precisely which one it appears in.
EM apparently doesn’t understand that a reference should actually support a point, not simply mention that the point exists.
In contrast I have provided two references that say outright probiotics are ineffective in treating lactose intolerance. I have also provided a quote quality reference that his claim that there are no bacteria in the small intestine is wrong. There are countless billion of bacteria in the small intestine.
Em this is GQ. This is the place for factual answers, not baseless opinion by people who don’t understand the basics of what they are speaking on. I am calling you out. I’ve provided three highly reputable references in this thread alone that say you are wrong. Can you provide even one that says that you are correct?
[quote]
Well of course the plural of anecdote is not data.
Which references did he cite that mentioned that probiotics assist with LI induced flatulence? I hope you aren’t going to do what he has done and just claim it’ “somewhere towards the back”? Can you name a specific reference that actually uses the word “lactose” and says that it assists with flatulence?
Well all the scientific evidence presented in this thread says that probiotics are ineffective for treating LI, that’s true.
Lactase in tablet form seems to work, at least for some people. There’s really no reason why it wouldn’t if the realse can be timed well enough. The gut and contents don’t know whether the lactase floating around in it is endogenous or not.
TB = Translated from the Blakese
TB - “When I say that yogurt is commonly made from L. Acidophilus, you should not infer that I don’t know that yogurt is rarely made from L. Acidophilus but two other entirely different cultures, because I do know that now that it’s been pointed out to me.”
TB – “When I cite an abstract on the web, you should assume that even though I’ve never actually read the article I know that it supports my case completely.”
Commentary - Blake has cited one (1) medical journal article he himself found: Levri KM, Ketvertis K, Deramo M, Merenstein JH, D’Amico F; J Fam Pract. 2005 Jul;54(7):613-20. “Do probiotics reduce adult lactose intolerance? A systematic review.” I don’t see its full text available online. Has Blake read it all the way through? Of course not. Admittedly, he has quoted the abstract several times, but Mathochist already pointed out that this very abstract says, “Some evidence suggests that specific strains, concentrations, and preparations are effective.”
It is extremely important to read full text to understand a journal article. The sample size and composition, the methodology, the conclusions drawn all may vary greatly from what the abstract suggests.
Here’s an example. The cite by Walloon (which Blake has claimed as one of his two cites) does have full text available. The study used none of the probiotics on the market or available in yogurt, but a specialized long-lived L. Acidophilus variant. The subjects took the probiotic for seven days, a period of time much shorter than the usual length of time suggested necessary to colonize the large intestine. 20g lactose loads were given, the equivalent of drinking about 14 ounces of milk at a sitting, an amount far greater than most people with LI symptoms would ever ingest at a meal. The full study consisted of 18 people.
For those with experience in reading the medical literature, these are all warning signs that the study may be suggestive and warrant further testing, but is not highly applicable to real world food consumption.
After (yes, truly, after) I wrote the above, I checked the literature and found a commentary on that article:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 70, No. 1, 105-106, July 1999. “Letters to the Editor
Prebiotics or probiotics for lactose intolerance: a question of adaptation,” Andrew Szilagyi
This is how science works. A study is evaluated, checked against what has already been reported in the literature, and guides future testing to more effective procedures.
TB – "When I say …
Commentary – Ah, the hell with it. Blake has clearly never read a single article on lactose intolerance. He hasn’t even read his own cites. He found one abstract that he keeps citing without being able to notice that its plain words contradict him. He can use PubMed to find one whole cite. Gee. I can do that too. From PubMed:
Br J Nutr. 2005 Jun;93(6):783-6. “Should yoghurt cultures be considered probiotic?” Guarner F, Perdigon G, Corthier G, Salminen S, Koletzko B, Morelli L.
Is this study worthwhile to cite, though? I don’t know. I’d have to read it all the way through.
I now quote myself. Read the literature. Understand the context of the literature. Cite only literature that you’ve actually read.
I rest my case. I don’t intend to post again. Dopers, it’s on your shoulders now. Go to it.
Heh heh.
This is so fricken’ funny.
Here we have a highly reputable microbiology text saying that the Lactobaccilli are strictly fermentors and incapable of anything but fermentation.
And then we have EM claiming that the Lactobaccilli don’t ferment.
Hmm.
So come on EM. Please provide a reference to support your repeated contentions that Lactobaccilli don’t ferment lactose?
Please name just one strain or species of bacterium t hat is even capable of digesting a substrate without digesting it in the human gut, or vice versa?
On the bright side, after only a week he has finally provided a reference to support his claims that probiotics are effective in treating LI. Bravo.
His claims that any lactobacilli are not fermentors is simply nonsense. All lactobacilli are fermentors and are incapable of anything but fermentation.
His claims that there can be no bacteria in the small intestine without causing serious health problems is a nonsense. There are billions of bacteria in every square centimetre of the small intestine of every healthy person.
His claims that there are some strains of bacteria that can digest without fermenting or vice versa is simply nonsense.
EM I’ve shown every single one of those claims of your to be bollocks with reputable references. This is GQ, would you care to try to support anyone of them with a reference?